Old Crow Medicine Show brings bluegrass to HOB

The septet that makes up Old Crow Medicine Show sees folk and bluegrass as music for the ages, as in for all generations, to come.

Critter Fuqua, a singer who plays slide guitar, banjo and guitar in the band, said in a phone call last week from his home in Nashville, Tenn., that people might think of “old-time music as bluegrass and Americana as more of a museum piece.”

However, as he averred, “It needs to grow and needs to have a new generation to be vibrant.”

Old Crow Medicine Show will perform at 8 p.m. Monday at House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach, with The Devil Makes Three opening.

Fuqua said the music that Old Crow Medicine Show explores and delves into also needs a younger generation, creativity and “the boundaries pushed.”

“That’s how we got that music in the first place,” he said, saluting the late Earl Scruggs “for pushing boundaries” on the banjo with a three-finger style.

Such pioneering and innovation, Fuqua said, “that’s why we have this music.”

Old Crow Medicine Show has reached hallowed ground since the members’ roots began sprouting more than a decade ago in New York state and into Canada. Being welcomed into the Grand Ole Opry in September 2013 marked “an incredible experience” for the band, said Fuqua, still finding himself “speechless” at describing the depth of the honor.

Through the group’s years, also in opening concerts for such stars as Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and Marty Stuart, Fuqua said the band loved the privilege of simply seeing them perform and observing their individual styles on stage, even if they hadn’t yet met the headliners.

“More and more,” Fuqua said, “we got to meet them, and every one I see live gives me something special.”

Old Crow Medicine Show also performed for the induction ceremonies in 2008 for Emmylou Harris and the late Ernest V. “Pop” Stoneman at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in Music City. With band members from various states, the group has worked with several producers, including Don Was, on “Tennessee Pusher” released that same year. Ted Hutt has produced two CDs, including the band’s latest, “Remedy,” from 2014 on ATO Records and a Grammy Award winner this year for Best Folk Album.

Fuqua shared the credit with the talented folks who help shape each album.

At the beginning, “we have too many ideas,” Fuqua said, “and we need somebody to help rein it in.”

He said thanks to insight and guidance on “Remedy” from Hutt and engineer Ryan Mall, “they were like the other two members of Old Crow Medicine Show, and they deserve the Grammy as much we do.”

“We’re a team in the studio,” Fuqua said, “and that’s how we did it. … All this stuff comes from teamwork and a bunch of other people.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2015 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Old Crow Medicine Show brings bluegrass to HOB."